Apr 22

 

Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 17 Day: 112  Ave. sky cover: 5% \ Visibility: 10 miles Flagstaff Today 69° \37° 
Wind: 7mph \ Gusts: 16mph Red Flag warning from 11am to 7pm
Extreme risk of fire \ Nearest active fire: 5mi 20K acres\ nearest Lightning: 560mi
Apr Averages for Flagstaff: 59° \ 28°  (3 days of moisture)

Today’s Quote

Weekly Observations

3- 5/1 Ramadan 16-22 INVICTUS GAMES 16-24   National Park Week: Link

17-23 Animal Cruelty/Human Violence Awareness Week Link  Chemists Celebrate Earth Week Numismatic Week ( National Coin Week) Link  National Paperboard Packaging Week National Pet ID Week National Paperboard Packaging Week National Pet ID Week Link  Link National Princess Week Link National Volunteer Week

18-22  Undergraduate Research Week Link

18-23 Cleaning For A Reason Week Consumer Awareness Week Police Officers Who Gave Their Lives In The Line of Duty Week

21-5/2 Festival of Ridvan: Baha'i community

21-24  Fiddler's Frolic Satchmo Days Link

22-30    International Dark Sky Week Link

 

Daily Observations

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

The tunnel fire remains the big news here. I have gotten several texts from friends checking on my safety. I am 5 miles from the fire and not in danger.

The fire is now 20,000+ acres, with 179 firefighters, 4–20-person hand crews, 4 dozers, 21 engines, one air attack plane, 2-Type 1 helicopters, and 2 type 3 helicopters, with more help expected today. Plane and helicopters have been grounded many times due to the 40+ mph winds. I am happy to see the number of people away from the fires who have opened their land and buildings to support large and small animals that were evacuated by owners. Flag really cares.

I was taken aback this morning while reading the news. Several hundred Ethiopian young men showed up at the Russian Embassy in Addis, the capital. They are volunteering to help the Russians fight in Ukraine. The Russian Embassy said they did not ask for volunteers, but took their information, including their military experience, in case they are needed. Many of these young men were telling the press that they can’t get jobs and need to find a way to feed their families. So sad.

Favorite Memes

 

A bit of Humor

Knock-Knock

Knock, knock----Who's There?----Nobel----Nobel who?

No bell…that’s why I knocked!

Trivia

·        Spring almost always arrives on March 20 or 21, but sometimes on the 19th. The reason the equinoxes and solstices don't always come on the same day is that Earth doesn't circle the sun in exactly 365 days.

·        The fall and spring equinoxes are the only two times during the year when the sun rises due east and sets due west.

·        On the first day of spring, a person at the North Pole would see the sun skimming across the horizon, beginning six months of uninterrupted daylight. A person at the South Pole would see the sun skimming across the horizon, signaling the start of six months of darkness.

·        According to Greek myth, the return of spring coincides with the return of Persephone, the daughter of Demeter, who is the goddess of plants and fertility.

·        At Chichen Itza, Mexico, the Mayan celebrate the first day of spring with 'The Return of the Sun Serpent.' On the evening on the spring equinox, the setting sun creates a triangular shadow on the El Castillo pyramid that looks like a descending snake, or the feather serpent god Kukulkan.

·        Easter always falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox.

·        The fall and spring equinoxes are the only two times during the year when the sun rises due east and sets due west.

Historical Events

Ø  1056 – First seen July 2, 1054, the supernova in the Crab nebula was last seen by the naked eye.

Ø  1519 – Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés established a settlement at Veracruz, Mexico.

Ø  1864 – The US Congress passed the Coinage Act of 1864 that mandates that the inscription In God We Trust be placed on all coins minted as United States currency.

Ø  1906 – The 1906 Intercalated Games, now recognized as part of the official Olympic Games, opened in Athens.

Ø  1912 – Pravda, the “voice” of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, began publication in Saint Petersburg.

Ø  1970 – The first Earth Day was celebrated. Earth Day was started by John McConnell, Denis Hayes, Fred Kent, Pete Grannis, and Kristin and William Hubbard, and Ira Einhorn.

Ø  1983 – The German magazine Stern claims the “Hitler Diaries” was found in wreckage in East Germany; the diaries were later revealed to be forgeries.

Ø  2000 – US Federal Agents seized six-year-old Elián González from his relatives’ home in Miami and sent him back to Cuba.

Birthdays Today

@92 – Charlotte Rae, American character actress (died in 2018)

85 – Jack Nicholson, American actor

@81 – Glen Campbell, American singer-songwriter (d. 2017)

76 – John Waters, American director, producer, screenwriter

72 – Peter Frampton, English singer-songwriter

@63 – Steve Fossett, American businessman, pilot, sailor (d.2007; plane crash)

@62 – J. Robert Oppenheimer, American physicist, academic (d. 1967; infection)

56 – Jeffrey Dean Morgan, American actor

55 – Sherri Shepherd, American actress, talk show panelist

@53 – Vladimir Lenin, Russian revolutionary, founder of Soviet Russia (d. 1924; strokes)

36 – Amber Heard, American actress

32 – Machine Gun Kelly, rapper